Also from The Atlantic Online, November 2004, Primary Sources:
Driving while talking on a cell phone can be more dangerous than driving drunk. A recent study ran a driving simulation comparing the response time of drivers conducting cell-phone conversations and drivers who were legally intoxicated (they drank “a mixture of orange juice and vodka”—in more technical language, a screwdriver). Although the intoxicated drivers tended to follow other cars more closely and brake more violently, the drivers conversing on cell phones exhibited a greater delay in their response to events on the road, and were more likely to be involved in a collision. (Interestingly, it made no difference whether the cell-phone drivers were using handheld or hands-free equipment.) The intoxicated drivers actually drove more slowly, and had a better braking response, than the study’s control group (participants who were neither drunk nor talking on a cell phone). But before you toss away your phone and reach for another shot of tequila, it’s worth noting that the screwdriver-drinking participants had a blood-alcohol level of only .08—drunk, but not that drunk.
“A Comparison of the Cell Phone Driver and the Drunk Driver,” D. Strayer, F. Drews, and D. Crouch, AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies